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We(our family) have been introduced to beekeeping by our neighbor, he has given us a hive (he is moving out of state)with one super and have had it in our yard for about 3 months and we just harvest it, sorry if I am using the wrong terminology.
major novice!!! so on my kitchen counter right now sits 2 lg. stock pots with honey draing into it through strainers,but still looks chunky. no laughing!! I will go out right now and get what I need if someone tells me. I want to learn all I can.this has been an introduction my fire.but want to continue, this seems like a wonderful family hobby. please could someone face me in the right direction on what to do next or a good book or web sit,s also a good supplyer of products. thank you so much.
michelle.

Michelle,
WOW, what a way to start!!! Good job!! First, welcome to the forum, lot's of great people here ready to share info.

1. What kind of strainer are you using? You will want something VERY fine, lots of little debris in fresh honey.
2. How did you harvest from the comb? Extract? Crushing? Are you going to put the super back on the bees? You must still have more nectar producing plant available right now. 1 hive of bees should be able to fill three or four supers easily in that area.

Many supplies available, Mann Lake, Brushy Mountain, Dadant, just to name a few. Get on the internet and start searching. I will get a list together and e-mail them to you.

Buy a couple of books also, starting with The Hive and the Honey Bee, and ABC's of Bee Culture. Great reading and can answer just about any question you have.

This is a great hobby, don't get discouraged, ask questions, and most of all have fun. I will get you more info through e-mail as there is just too much to type here.

Thank you for you reply, I know I am using the wrong words. we removed 6 cells from the hive loaded with honey, and replaced then with new starter combs. the strainer I bought was just a supermarket type semi-fine
it seem if the honey were warm if would drain much faster.also just for now can I put this into jars and how long will it last or do I need to do some kind of prossing to it, I do a little canning also. I will get some books but to hold me over for now. I thank you for all your help. it is my 14 year old son who raided the hive this time with all of us watching eagerly.what a kick.
thank you michelle

And just a reminder if you plan to store the honey for any length of time. Commercial honey producers will often nuke (140deg I think) their honey to delay it's crystalization, though with few exceptions all honey will crystalize eventually. If you need to store it, the best way is to keep it in the freezer - it'll be very thick but shouldn't crystalize on you.

Michelle,
Did you get my e-mail?
Glad to here you are enjoying this.
The kitchen strainer is much to course, if you put this in canning jars without straining through a fine synthetic cloth (available through the bee supply places I included in my e-mail), your honey will crystalize very quickly.
What you removed from the hive were frames. Cells are what they bees store honey, food and raise brood in.
The "starter comb" is probably foundation, this is an embosed sheet of beeswax that the bees "draw" out and fill with honey.
Leave the semi-strained honey in a covered kettle for now until you get a honey strainer and a straining cloth, don't wait too long, warm the honey in a double boiler fashion, never directly over heat, then strain through the strainer and cloth. I heat honey to about 140 degrees for twenty-four hours (one time) before I bottle it. Excessive heating will darken honey and it will lose some flavor, but heating it to strain it will be fine.
I hope this answers some of your questions. Let me know if you didn't get my e-mail and I will try again. Until then, enjoy. Happy Beekeeping

hello again, I did not recive your email
I want to know if straining the honey through nylon is ok for just this first time? I think it will be to long before I recive my product from online catolog.. also about heating the honey you mentioned 140 temp for 24 hr. now that means on the stove for 24hrs? heating.how to keep such a constant temp and what happends if it goes over a bit? or is there a way to do it in the mico.
I have a order ready to be sent tell me if you think this is all I need for now. a honey rendering press about 99.00 a honey strainer and some straining cloth. it's to bad I did not have all of this stuff ahead of time.I guess I really can't use this till next time.. how long can honey just sit at room temp? Bactreia??? what had happened was that our neighbor was moving in 2 days and he had only showed us how to rob the hive one other time. so he decided sunday was the day. I'm sorry I have so many questions. I would just die if all this honey goes to waist or I do somthing wrong.
ps also the worst speller
thank you again. you may email me
michelle fostermfmissy@aol.com

WHOA!!!! If it's not too late, what is a "honey rendering press"???? I produce hundreds of pounds of honey every year and not only have I never used one I have never heard of one. For this current batch of honey just heat it(double boiler fashion) on the stove top until it is nice and thin, not over 140 degrees. You should be ok to strain through nylon material as long as it is not colored, the color might run. Then bottle it in canning jars. If it crystalizes later it can be reheated and liquified. I really do not feel that you need to spent 100.00 on a "honey press". Do, however get the strainer and cloth, you might also get a bucket with a honey gate, you can put the strainer and cloth over the bucket and you will be able to bottle with the gate. Let us know what else we can do to help you out.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by mfmissy: also about heating the honey you mentioned 140 temp for 24 hr. now that means on the stove for 24hrs? heating.how to keep such a constant temp and what happends if it goes over a bit? or is there a way to do it in the mico.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

A word of caution. Heating honey will only degrade it, never make it better. You should keep honey at as low a temperature as possible. See Jan Templeman's pages on the subject:http://www.xs4all.nl/~jtemp/index3.html